Miller Kids University
Math
Why study math?
Math helps us to find patterns, solve problems, organize, create, analyze, measure, and determine amounts.
The large numbers after a million are a billion, trillion, quadrillion, and they keep going on to infinity.
The moon orbits the Earth about once every 28 days. Since there are 365 days in a year, the moon orbits the Earth about 13 times in a year.
An abacus is an old counting tool with beads that slide on a rod.
The opposite sides of a dice cube added together equal 7.
5 + 2 = 7
1 + 6 = 7
4 + 3 = 7
Roman numerals were created by ancient Romans to write numbers by using letters. The 7 letters used are I for 1, V for 5, X for 10, L for 50, C for 100, D for 500, and M for 1000. Zero does not have a Roman numeral to represent it. Roman numerals are sometimes used today for Olympic games, names of popes, names of kings and queens, clocks and watches, the year that a movie is released, and chapters in a book.
Math Field Trips
Grocery store: practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, comparing prices, and rounding, and determine unit price to find the better buy
Bank: learn about money management and bank accounts
Kitchen: practice measurement of ingredients
Restaurant: add up a bill and calculate a tip
Minature golf: record scores, find the total score, and practice angles for putting a ball
Train/metro station: learn to read train time tables, maps of routes, and determine ticket prices
Menu Math
Use a menu and play restaurant. Have someone be a customer and someone be the restaurant worker. Let the customer choose items from the menu and the worker writes down the items with their prices on paper and then adds them up to get the total bill.
Estimation Candy Jar
Estimate how many candies are in a jar. Use M&Ms or Skittles. You can show a jar with 20 candies in it. Then empty it and fill the jar. Based on how high the jar was before, make a guess of how many candies are in the jar now. Then count how many candies are in the jar and find out how close your estimate was.
Coin Math
Use coins to practice counting money. Find different ways to make coins add up to a certain amount.
Travel Math
Find out the distance and time it takes to get to a place you would like to travel to. Use an online driving distance calculator to estimate the total driving distance and travel time between two places. Look around as you travel and find numbers on houses, buildings, license plates, and signs. Add or subtract those numbers or compare numbers as greater than or less then.
Toy Animal Math
Use small toy animals and a bowl to practice addition and subtraction. For addition, put a certain number of toys in a bowl and then add another number of more toys to the bowl. Count how many toys are in the bowl now. For subtraction, put a certain number of toys in a bowl and then remove some of the toys from the bowl. Count the toys left in the bowl.
Playing Cards Math
Use playing cards to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and greater than/less than.
Measurement Hunt
Measure different things with a tape measure around the house like a table, chair, bed, and couch. Make a list of things and put them in order of size from shortest to longest.
Odd and Even Numbers
Look at the numbers about you from your age, date of birth, telephone number, and numbers in your address. Organize each number as odd or even.
Chocolate Bar Multiplication
On a chocolate bar, multiply the squares in a row (going across) by the squares in a column (going down). You can check your answer by counting all the squares on the chocolate bar.
Using Math to Change Amounts in a Recipe
Sometimes you need to change the quantities of ingredients for a recipe.
You may want to make a larger amount than the recipe. For example, if a recipe is for six cookies, but you want to make 12 cookies, you need to multiply all ingredients by 2 to make 2 batches. If the recipe calls for 2/3 cup of flour, you need to do 2 x 2/3 = 4/3 = 1 1/3.
Other times you may want to make a smaller batch than the recipe. For example, if the recipe is for 24 cookies, but you want to make 6 cookies, you need to divide all ingredients by 4 since 24 ÷ 6 = 4. If the recipe uses 2 teaspoons of baking powder, you need 1/2 a teaspoon because 2 ÷ 4 = ½.
There are 49 ways to make 50 cents in coins using pennies, nickels, dimes, and/or quarters.
Color Sets
A set is a group that has something in common. A set can be matched with objects in another set. Find a set of crayons, a set of markers, and a set of colored pencils. Lay out 6 groups by the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. There should be 3 items in each color group. For example, the red group will have 1 red crayon, 1 red colored pencil, and 1 red marker.
Pizza Fractions
To practice fractions, cut a pizza into parts. First cut it into halves. Then cut it into fourths. Then cut it into eighths.
Fruit Salad Math
A fruit salad consists of blueberries, raspberries, and grapes. The fruit salad has a total of 18 pieces of fruit. There are twice as many raspberries as blueberries and three times as many grapes as raspberries. How many are there of each fruit in the salad? Answer: 2 blueberries, 4 raspberries, and 12 grapes.
Find Line Symmetry in Alphabet Letters
A shape has line symmetry when it is the same on both sides of a line drawn through its middle. The two halves of the shape are mirror images of each other when reflected across the line. You can draw a line down or across a capital letter of the alphabet. Some letters have vertical symmetry when a line is drawn down the middle and the 2 sides are the same. Some letters have horizontal symmetry when a line is drawn across the middle and the 2 sides are the same. Some letters have both vertical and horizontal symmetry. Some letters do not have the same image on each side of the line and therefore do not have line symmetry.
10 was to make math interesting:
1. Join or start a math club.
2. Watch math videos on YouTube.
3. Understand and use math in everyday life like cooking, shopping, or organizing.
4. Play fun online math games and math apps.
5. Visit math websites.
6. Do a math project.
7. Take a math field trip.
8. Develop a positive attitude about math.
9. Apply a math concept to another subject you like such as science, social studies, language arts, art, or music.
10. Use math in a sport, game, activity, or hobby you like.
Magic Square
A magic square is a game in which the numbers in every row, column, and diagonal add up to the same amount.
Tangram
A tangram is an ancient Chinese puzzle made of a square that is cut into 7 pieces or tans. The 7 pieces are the following shapes: 2 small triangles, 1 medium triangle, 2 large triangles, one square, and one parallelogram. The pieces are used create various patterns and pictures of people, animals, shapes, and things. The tangram puzzle is useful as a mathematical problem-solving activity.
